Overview

"The
contribution of Grahame Jackson, former Technical
Director of TaroGen Project, towards construction of this website is
sincerely acknowledged."

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TaroGen, a
5.5-year project funded by AusAID
and implemented by SPC in collaboration with IPGRI
and USP, is working with national
programmes to develop a regional strategy for taro genetic resource
conservation and crop improvement. The project is designed to assist
Pacific Island countries in the collection and conservation of taro
germplasm and in the use of the genetic resources in plant improvement
programmes. The project commenced in June 1998 and was recently extended
to 31 December 2003. The total value of the project is estimated at $4.3
million.

The objectives of the project are:

to complete the description and conservation of the majority of
taro genetic diversity in the Pacific Region;

to provide men and women in Pacific Island Countries with taro
varieties that have improved resistance to Taro Leaf Blight, and;

to provide support to implementing agencies so they can
effectively and efficiently manage the project.

The major impetus behind the development of the project has been the
loss of taro genetic resources in the region and the spread of taro leaf blight to the
Samoan islands in 1993 and its devastating effect on the economy. Many
other Pacific Island countries are now vulnerable to the disease.

[Click on photos to enlarge]

Two
sub-components, one on DNA fingerprinting to facilitate accurate
comparison of accessions between countries, and the other on virus
indexing procedures to overcome quarantine concerns in the international
exchange of taro germplasm, are being financed by ACIAR.
Techniques are being developed at the Queensland
University of Technology (virus indexing) and the University
of Queensland (DNA fingerprinting). In addition, the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and Trade, New Zealand has agreed to support inputs
of plant pathology to assist the breeding programmes. This is provided
through expertise from HortResearch.
More recently, TaroGen has been working closely with NGOs such as the
Planting Materials Network (PMN) in Solomon Islands and Farmer
Support Association (FSA) in Vanuatu to assist with conservation and crop
improvement activities.

An
article on the TaroGen Project was published in the SPC Annual Report
2001. To learn more about Safeguarding Pacific Island Taro - An important
Pacific Island Root Crop - Click
Here